Democrats Brad Schneider of Illinois, Carol Shea Porter of New Hampshire, and Pete Gallego of Texas lost re-election bids in 2014 in a tough environment. All are running again this year, likely to be a friendlier one for Democrats. The three races are rated "Tossup" by the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report/Roll Call.

But a handful of other former members who you might not even know are running face longer odds.

With congressional job approval hovering in the low teens, giving incumbents the opportunity to choose three words to describe themselves, and to refer to their current office, might seem like asking them to choose the words for their tombstone. But it’s a biennial tradition for the California delegation.